|
The All-Russia workshop-conference “Public-Private Partnership in Tourism Industry: Practical Experience, Problems, Prospects” conducted on April 10 and 11, 2009 in St. Petersburg was focused on the issue of development of new forms of interaction between government, society and business to secure high efficiency of operation in the sphere of tourism under present economic conditions.
The conference was organized by St. Petersburg’s Committee for Investments and Strategic Projects, the National Agency for Development of Investment, Culture and Tourism, Baltic Tourism Academy and Baltic Academy of Tourism and Entrepreneurship. Among the participants of the event were representatives of regional authorities, higher education institutions, professional associations and experts.
Participants of the conference stressed that for a number of reasons the current economic situation increases attractiveness of domestic travel and inbound tourism. However, the existing tourism potential of Russian cities is underused. Why is this happening?
CSR North-West expert Victoria Zheltova believes main factors determining competitiveness of a city at an urban tourism market have changed. The expert uses the example of St. Petersburg to examine the stages of the tourism sector development: in 1990-2006 key elements of the travel industry included museums and monuments of imperial Petersburg, at present the main tourist attractions of the city are its urban spaces and services provided by the city’s economy. Requirements that the city has to meet in its attempts to attract tourists have also changed: “an urban space has to be unique, safe, available and environmentally clean, says Victoria Zheltova.
One of the appropriate responses to the above-mentioned challenges is creation of creative clusters. “On one side this step would allow city authorities to conduct final appraisal of the territory and real estate through generation of the flow of active local residents and tourists, on the other it would stimulate business to get access to new markets and resources, concludes Victoria Zheltova.
Please, see the presentation of Victoria Zheltova’s report on “Development of Tourism in St. Petersburg: Promising Partnerships” for more details (Russian only)
Related links:
Source: CSR "North-West"
|
